History Main / CoconutSuperPowers

* In the script for ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', the [[IncompetenceInc Sirius Cybernetics Corporation]] Complaints Department company song is described as being performed by "a choir of over two million robots... exactly a flattened fifth [tritone] out of tune" and the FX description suggests "IT WILL SOUND MORE GHASTLY THAN YOU COULD POSSIBLY IMAGINE". The version in the radio omits the exact number of robots and instead is just six people from the Radiophonic Workshop corridor singing [[HollywoodToneDeaf quite poorly]] through a vocoder with a slightly detuned backing. It is pretty ghastly, but nowhere near as bad as Douglas Adams wanted, on the grounds that it's simply impossible for a choir of two million to sound intelligible, and that's before you process it with RoboSpeak effects and detune it by a tritone.

** The Doctor's few special powers are things that can be conveyed easily with solid acting and some basic camera tricks (even live camera tricks, if necessary) - SuperIntelligence, a kind of HyperAwareness-like sense that allows him to know if he can change the outcome of an event or not, and some limited telepathy, hypnosis and EmotionControl PsychicPowers that he only uses once in a blue moon, which are usually conveyed by him grabbing someone else's head and looking into their eyes intensely. His most expensive ability is his regeneration ability, which has been achieved in various ways over the show's history such as a malfunctioning visual mixing desk (for the First Doctor's regeneration into the Second Doctor) to StopMotionAnimation showing him growing a cocoon-like outer shell made of paper and makeup which then fades (for the Fourth Doctor's regeneration into the Fifth) to almost liquid waves of yellow CGI energy shooting out of every part of his body (for the Eleventh Doctor's regeneration into the Twelfth).

** The Doctor's few special powers are things that can be conveyed easily with solid acting and some basic camera tricks (even live camera tricks, if necessary) - SuperIntelligence, a kind of HyperAwareness-like sense that allows him to know if he can change the outcome of an event or not, and some limited telepathy, hypnosis and EmotionalControl PsychicPowers that he only uses once in a blue moon. His most expensive ability is his regeneration ability, which has been achieved in various ways over the show's history such as a malfunctioning visual mixing desk (for the First Doctor's regeneration into the Second Doctor) to StopMotionAnimation showing him growing a cocoon-like outer shell made of paper and makeup which then fades (for the Fourth Doctor's regeneration into the Fifth) to almost liquid waves of yellow CGI energy shooting out of every part of his body (for the Eleventh Doctor's regeneration into the Twelfth).

** Of course Storm probably ''should'' be more cautious about using her powers, considering what they could do to local and possibly even global weather patterns.

Compare with InformedAbility. Contrast UselessSuperpowers, where the characters ''could'' show off and use their powers but they aren't allowed to [[StoryBreakerPower because it'd resolve the conflicts too easily]], and MisappliedPhlebotinum, where the characters ''do'' use their special powers but in stupid or unimaginative ways. See also OffscreenMomentOfAwesome and FightUnscene.

* In the early 80s, [[JamesCameron an aspiring Canadian director]] wanted to make a movie about a RobotWar in a [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic future]] after seeing a burning metal skeleton in a nightmare. He couldn't get the necessary budget, so he decided to move the action into the present (saving lots of money on the sets) and clothe the robot in human skin (saving lots of money on animatronics). [[Film/{{Terminator}} The rest is Future History]].

** Over the course of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration,'' the ship's ability to separate the drive section from the saucer section was seldom seen after the first few episodes, even though there were numerous times it might have come in handy for various reasons. In addition to money, it was also not such a hot idea to change the iconic shape of the series's CoolShip.

* Similarly, in ''Series/DoctorWho'', the TARDIS only ever materialized in place because they didn't have the budget to show their space ship traveling in space (except for a few times) or actually flying. The new series has fixed this somewhat and we've gotten many more scenes of the TARDIS flying-- including one where it speeds along next to a car on a highway. The writers do note that that sort of thing "puts a strain on the engines," thus explaining the rarity.

** In the original-series story "The Mutants," an alien transforms through several stages from a humanoid, through a lobster-like creature, to a glowing, floating alien. For most of the transformation, the camera shows a close-up of his hand--only requiring the costume department to build a hand for the intermediate stages, instead of entire costumes that would only be seen for a few seconds. (Same thing for the makeup department.)

** In earlier episodes, when vampires shifted to vamp face, the actual shift usually occured off-screen. As the show's budget increased, vamping out onscreen became more common. Furthermore, in many cases you can tell the shift is something of a "jump cut" between pre-makeup and post-makeup; once Season 2 comes around, the "game face" effect is a more gradual, CGI-based shift.

* Not quite a superpower, but watch ''Series/StargateSG1'' enough, and you'll notice almost every time the Gate is opened on Earth, it's either ''just'' off screen, behind the Iris, or one of the stock shots they probably filmed a decade ago.

* Parodied in a ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' DVD Extra, with a horribly low-budget [[ShowWithinAShow in-universe animated show]] in which most superpower use is just off-screen. Made even funnier in the commentary on the DVD, which is made by Frozone and Mr. Incredible themselves. Frozone is less than impressed. That cartoon was a parody of ''WesternAnimation/ClutchCargo'', a series from the late 1950s which also featured live-action mouths in an otherwise animated setting.

* The 1980s miniseries/series ''{{V}}'' had reptilian aliens who wore clever disguises to pass as human. And, since reptile-face makeup is expensive and hard on the actors, the aliens wore their clever disguises even aboard their spaceships when no humans were around to see. Also, in ''V: The Series'', the Visitors lost the reverb effect added to their voices in both mini-series.
* {{Jekyll}}: Hyde's superspeed ability requires very little in the way of effects except perhaps for the odd cut to reveal that, while a character's back was turned, Hyde has warped in front of him. The one scene where he demonstrates it by daring an AssholeVictim to attack him with a knife consists of the camera spinning around him real fast and ending with him behind the victim.
* Later seasons of ''QuantumLeap'''s budget cuts caused the famous MirrorReveal to be a one-camera, Sam-to-mirror-to-Sam panned shot.
* There ''were'' plot-critical reasons for the main Cylons in the retooled ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}'' being human-looking, but there was still probably an element of "save frakloads of money on having to make CGI robots for every episode".
** Indeed, this trope took place in the very planning stages; the Cylons were redesigned as human-looking because the creators counted that they could only afford one Cylon suit good enough to convince modern audiences, while CGI was still too expensive to rely on constantly. However, as the miniseries was past and it was time to start filming the main series, the CGI prices had fallen significantly, and they managed to squeeze in more Centurions than they had initially thought possible.
* ''{{Misfits}}'' thrives on this trope. Of the five main characters, four of them have abilities that require practically no effects (time-rewinding and telepathy only need a rewound camera shot and tiny voiceover, respectively; sex pheromones and immortality need even less effort) and the fifth (invisibility) only needs a brief effect to show it happening, which usually occurs off-screen. Other powers featured so far include mind control, really fast-acting alopecia, de-aging, uncontrollable rage and becoming a dog (who still looks human), none of which require any effects whatsoever.

* ''Film/GodzillaFinalWars'' has the X-illians (aliens from Planet X) disguised as humans for the express purpose of looking less threatening to humans. When they inevitably turn on the humans, they keep their human disguises, with one character simply remarking that he liked the outfit. That said, the movie had [[JustHereForGodzilla Godzilla fighting basically every monster that's ever appeared in a Godzilla film one after another]], so no one really cared.
* In the early 80s, [[JamesCameron an aspiring Canadian director]] wanted to make a movie about a RobotWar in a [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic future]] after seeing a burning metal skeleton in a nightmare. He couldn't get the necessary budget, so he decided to move the action into the present (saving lots of money on the sets) and clothe the robot in human skin (saving lots of money on animatronics). [[{{Terminator}} The rest is Future History]].

* Parodied in a ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' [=DVD=] Extra, with a horribly low-budget ''animated'' show in which most superpower use is just off-screen. Made even funnier in the commentary on the DVD, which is made by Frozone and Mr. Incredible themselves. Frozone is less than impressed. That cartoon was a parody of ''WesternAnimation/ClutchCargo'', a series from the late 1950s which also featured live-action mouths in an otherwise animated setting.
** An even funnier thing to note is that fantastic superpowers and gigantic explosions are generally a ''lot'' easier for computers to render than more mundane, everyday movements like [[NoFlowInCGI shirt grabs or brushing one's hair]]. The latter actions occur only a few times in the entire film. This is at least partly because everyone knows exactly what brushing your hair looks like, and when it's wrong it's jarring. How many times have you seen a woman turn into a giant parachute or rubber raft?

* The hero of ''{{Manimal}}'' could (implicitly) turn into [[{{Animorphism}} any animal]]. Unfortunately, Stan Winston only made TransformationSequence effects for a hawk and a panther. He also made a large snake transformation, which was seen on-screen a big total of ''once''. Any other transformations happened off-screen.

* Parodied in a ''TheIncredibles'' [=DVD=] Extra, with a horribly low-budget ''animated'' show in which most superpower use is just off-screen.
** Made even funnier in the commentary on the DVD, which is made by Frozone and Mr. Incredible themselves. Frozone is less than impressed.
** That cartoon was a parody of ''ClutchCargo'', a series from the late 1950s which also featured live-action mouths in an otherwise animated setting.
** An even funnier thing to note is that fantastic superpowers and gigantic explosions are generally a ''lot'' easier for computers to render than more mundane, everyday movements like [[NoFlowInCGI shirt grabs or brushing one's hair]]. The latter actions occur only a few times in the entire film.
*** This is at least partly because everyone knows exactly what brushing your hair looks like, and when it's wrong it's jarring. How many times have you seen a woman turn into a giant parachute or rubber raft?

* Storm and Jean Grey both used their powers far more cautiously in the 'Film/{{X-Men}}'' films than in their animated or comic versions. Prolonged flight and telekinesis are still very difficult to film. Not to mention beings made of living ice or metal. Iceman doesn't become a full-fledged X-Man until the third film, likely just so he won't have to use his powers to their fullest, with ice slides, ice projectiles, and ice armor. (He does learn how to do the ice armor at the end of the third film.) Also, Colossus only takes on his metal form ''just'' as something is about to hit him or he needs to use his strength.

* Most of the CGI in ''Series/{{Noob}}'' is made by a single person, which basically mean all magic users are mostly seen using some variation of shooting balls of light and/or producing energy fields, no matter what their class is supposed to be. There's notably a summoner that never summons the creatures that she has under her command [[AllThereInTheManual according to other media]].

* In DreamScape, DennisQuid's psychic character is said to have telekinesis, and we see a still movie slide of him levitating a small metal, ball bearing. If viewers were expecting him to use this at any point in the film to save himself from a dangerous situation, they will be disappointed because the movie focuses on his ability to enter dream instead.

* Storm and Jean Grey both used their powers far more cautiously in [[Film/{{X-Men}} the X-Men films]] than in their animated or comic versions. Prolonged flight and telekinesis are still very difficult to film. Not to mention beings made of living ice or metal. Iceman doesn't become a full-fledged X-Man until the third film, likely just so he won't have to use his powers to their fullest, with ice slides, ice projectiles, and ice armor. (He does learn how to do the ice armor at the end of the third film.) Also, Colossus only takes on his metal form ''just'' as something is about to hit him or he needs to use his strength.

Contrast UselessSuperpowers, where the characters ''could'' show off and use their powers but they aren't allowed to [[StoryBreakerPower because it'd resolve the conflicts too easily]], and MisappliedPhlebotinum, where the characters ''do'' use their special powers but in stupid or unimaginative ways. See also OffscreenMomentOfAwesome and FightUnscene.

* ''{{The 4400}}''. The vast majority of characters had really, really cheap powers. This got ''really'' bad with Isabel. She had '''ALL''' possible abilities... and only really used one, telekinesis. Minor powers used include ''changing her eye color'' and ''making a pool warmer''. Yet they kept saying she had many ''amazing'' powers. Somewhat compensated for by how original and cool many of these cheap powers were, such as a b-movie director who could see the events of the past exactly, so he figured out the Kennedy assassination and a powerful conspiracy... but channeled them solely into horrible, cheesy, low-budget films.

* In ''Captain Sindbad'' (not to be confused with the RayHarryhausen Sinbad movies), Sinbad must fight an invisible beast in an arena.

* Similarly, in ''Series/DoctorWho'', the TARDIS only ever materialized in place because they didn't have the budget to show their space ship traveling in space or actually flying. The new series has fixed this somewhat and we've gotten many more scenes of the TARDIS flying-- including one where it speeds along next to a car on a highway. The writers do note that that sort of thing "puts a strain on the engines," thus explaining the rarity.